“The world has changed” is the mantra we are hearing from the government. It is a phrase designed to explain and justify the chancellor’s argument on Wednesday in what is known as her Spring Statement. The Conservatives are branding it an “emergency Budget”, which ministers insist is nonsense, but it is certainly true it is a bigger event than it was expected to be just a few months ago.
The thing is, there isn’t any – the economy is flatlining. Plus, inflation is up and government borrowing costs are up. Then there are the big-picture challenges: the UK has an ageing population, the benefits bill is going skywards, the dangerous international picture is demanding more money for defence and the country is saddled with huge debt, which attracts huge debt interest payments.
All of which prompts the question: if the world really has changed, how much appetite now or in the future might Labour have for a really far-reaching re-examination of how it approaches government? With big and potentially unpalatable trade-offs looming, what alternatives could there be? There are loads of ideas it could explore, from the left, the right and everywhere in between.
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